Man makes comes complete health turnaround

William Tanner III, 51, has made a complete turnaround when it comes to his health.

"I changed my diet and exercise, and the secret to weight loss is more out than in," Tanner said.

One day early last year after drinking a soda for breakfast, Tanner said he felt like he was having a heart attack. It was then that Tanner made changes to his diet with the help of MUSC Sodexo Dietitian Amy Mendez.

"He plans his meals in advance thinking about what to eat and preparing things from scratch and not processed food," Mendez said.

Mendez says she sees cases every day just like Tanners.

She says the key to getting your health in check is realizing small changes in what you eat can have an even bigger impact on your overall health.

"If you start taking one step in the right direction you can build from that," Mendez said.

For Tanner, it was cutting back drastically on his calorie intake. He currently takes in 1790 calories daily.

Instead of a coke for breakfast, now its spinach, chicken and two egg whites, and for lunch more veggies and protein.

"When you include the whole grains and lean sources of protein and cut back on the sugar, you feel better and you have energy to last through the day," Mendez said.

Now Tanner says he feels better and hopes to reverse the cycle of heart problems in his family.He now logs his daily food intake with an app on his phone and walks at least five miles a day.

Tanner has lost 35 pounds and his waist has gone from a 42 to a 36.

"It's kind of neat because when you see people they don't say,'Are you ok?' they say,'You look good,'" Tanner said.

Mendez says in addition to eating healthier it's also important to get moving.

It's important to exercise 150 minutes a week which breaks down to a 39 minute moderate to fast walk five days a week or three to four days of going to the gym for 45 minutes to and hour.